BOTHELL, Wash.ington--With little time to savor the season’s first NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Northwest Series earned last weekend at Magic Valley Speedway, Gary Lewis and Moore-Lewis Racing head back to Yakima Speedway after the June 3 stop was rained out for this weekend’s third event of 2006.
Lewis bested Jerome, Idaho’s Eddy McKean for the victory on June 10. Earning the victory over McKean, a former track champion and NASCAR Southwest Champion, was especially sweet for the 1998 NASCAR Northwest Series champion, according to Lewis.
“Eddy is a great race car driver and an even better person. We have always had great races between the two of us over the years,” he said. “I know how bad Eddy would like to win an Elite Series race at his home track and that he’s been trying for a long time which makes this win that much sweeter. I called Eddy on Monday morning to rub it in a little more, but in the end I was the only one laughing.”
After a sub-par 2005 season by Lewis’ standards, the Bothell, WA native has returned this season with the goal of earning the final Elite Division Northwest Series Championship in NASCAR history. A Bud Pole in Meridian and a victory in the season’s second event have been solid momentum builders, Lewis said.
“We have had great cars in most of the events (over the last two years) but we just needed to catch some racing luck. Luck is a very important thing in racing and if you have none or very little then it will show in the results. Last year was a prime example of how it can affect the outcome to a season.”
Heading into Yakima with the series points lead does not change the Nutter Racing Engines/Sandblaster Inc. driver’s approach.
“We will approach this weekend just like every other,” Lewis noted. “We’re going fast in our Sign Factory USA Chevrolet and turning left and as always looking to win another race. (Brandon) Riehl, (Jeff) Barkshire and (Pete) Harding are always very fast at Yakima so we will have our work cut out for us but we’re ready for the challenge.
“Yakima has always produced some great racing and our first goal has to be to get a good starting spot for the feature to try and put ourselves in a position to win”
Yakima Speedway has graduated late model talent to the Northwest Series over its 21-year history including three-time champion Jeff Jefferson, former Rookie-of-the-Year winners in Jason Jefferson and Kevin Quesnell as well as newcomers Travis Bennett, Mike Longton, Troy Trammell and BJ Tidrick.
Rookies have struggled to earn victories at the .500-mile paved oval as veteran talent tends to rise to the top. Lewis plans to use his experience to get to the front but will have his eyes on some of the locals, he explained
“We’ve been down this road before (competing in a Series event at the
Speedway) even though Yakima is not a home track for us. Hopefully our
experience will pay off for us this weekend but I would not be surprised
if you saw some local talent like BJ Tidrick step out and get his first
Series win this weekend.”
